when i was a boy
by CottageCheese6535
Summary: There were dragons when I was a boy. Where they went, only a few know.


**A/N - Howdy. Sorry it's been a little while, but I had little-to-no inspiration or motivation until this exact moment in time. I have decided, after much thought, to do another sad one-shot (as you can see by the uncapitalized title).**

 **This one is going to be extra depressing! You're welcome!**

 **Disclaimer - One day…**

 _There were dragons when I was a boy._

Hiccup laughed as he chased Toothless around the cove, knowing the dragon was going easy on him as he caught up and jumped on his tail, the prosthetic removed for the time being. Toothless yelped as Hiccup latched on, and bounced around, attempting to fling the tiny human off and into the lake.

Hiccup simply held on tighter as a grin threatened to split his face.

 _There were great, grim, sky dragons that nested on the cliff tops like gigantic scary birds._

Hiccup gaped in horror as he opened the door to his hut only to find dragons attacking his village once again. He quickly slammed the door shut and told Toothless to stay put, then slowly, cautiously, opened the door again.

His jaw dropped. Vikings, riding dragons. Dragons perched on roofs, looking for all the world like overgrown chickens. He almost wanted to laugh.

 _Little, brown, scuttly dragons that hunted down the mice and rats in well organized packs._

Hiccup ducked as a tiny ball of wings and scales came hurtling straight at his head. He glanced behind him and watched as the tiny dragon dug at the dirt under a hut, a rat just barely out of reach. Hiccup stood up straight and did a double take as three or four more Terror's came out of nowhere and plowed into him, knocking him over in a rush to get to their friend.

Hiccup lay on the ground and moaned in embarrassment, covering his eyes with his arm as he heard Toothless' draconic laugh from above him.

 _Preposterously huge Sea Dragons that were twenty times as big as the Big Blue Whale and who killed for the fun of it._

Hiccup watched in terrified silence, aware of Astrid's quickened breathing behind him as they watched a Gronckle devoured by a monster, by a _dragon._

Hiccup stared in awe at the battle between the two giants, the Bewilderbeast of the great ice nest and the dirty grey monster of Drago's armada. His eyes widened in desperate disbelief as the defender fell.

 _You will have to take my word for it, for the dragons are disappearing so fast they may soon become extinct._

Hiccup threw himself at Toothless' neck, wrapping his arms around him and feeling an angry tear leak from his tightly shut eyes. Toothless raised a paw and pulled Hiccup ever closer, resting his chin on his human's shoulder. How they would miss this.

After a while, Hiccup pulled away and wiped at his cheeks, brushing away the heartbreak. Toothless crooned softly and looked at him sadly, then gazed toward his flock.

"Thanks for nothing, you useless reptile." Hiccup choked out.

 _Nobody knows what is happening._

He was leaving. He wouldn't be coming back. Not ever.

 _They are crawling back into the sea from whence they came, leaving not a bone, not a fang, in the earth for the men of the future to remember them by._

Hiccup stared at his leg, dangling off the cliff. His prosthetic lay to the side, cast off in anger and frustration. He heard the mighty thundering of thousands of wings beating in flight as every dragon on Berk took off at once, flying past Hiccup as he sat on his ledge.

Hiccup raised his head and watched the dragons follow Toothless away from Berk. Leaving. Not coming back.

Not ever.

 _So, in order that these amazing creatures should not be forgotten, I will tell this true story from my childhood._

Hiccup gazed up at the black creature before him, feeling like his very soul was on display for the Night Fury. Their eyes met and slowly, hesitantly, Hiccup stretched out a hand.

 _I was not the sort of boy that could train a dragon with a mere lifting of an eyebrow._

Hiccup turned his head away. He stretched his arm out further, and stopped before reaching where he sensed the dragon's snout to be.

Suddenly, the dry, roughness of a scaly nose. Hiccup looked up at the black mass, hope and and an overwhelming sense of _belonging_ shining in his eyes.

 _I was not a natural at the heroism business. I had to work at it._

"Now!" Hiccup yelled, desperate to be heard over the wind rushing past Toothless and he as they fell towards the earth, not as far away as he would have liked. Toothless spun in the air and fired an impossible shot into the maw of the beast.

It seemed to catch fire from the inside out, belching smoke and flames as it began to panic. It spread its wings in a final attempt to save itself, but it was too late.

They won.

 _This is the story of becoming a hero the hard way._

Hiccup pressed his forehead against Toothless'.

"Thank you." He whispered softly.

 _This is Berk._

 **A/N - Ah, that was fun. I had to copy the first page of** _ **How to Train Your Dragon**_ **word for word, but it was totally worth it! That whole italics monologue was from the first book in Cressida Cowell's series, except for that last line, which I added in because it was cooler that way.**

 **Anyway, I think writing sad things suit me, so sorry about that. I will be having more dramatically bittersweet stories in the future, ESPECIALLY when httyd 3 finally comes out.**

 **That movie is going to break us all.**

 **(Bonus points to me if the dragons leaving part happens like I wrote it.)**


End file.
